**Mrs.BFinally**

rblucy

I just returned from our Eastern Mediterranean cruise and it was great!  You'll have a wonderful time!  We used Rome In Limo for transfers from the airport to the cruise port, from the cruise port to Rome with a full day tour, and from the hotel to the airport.  We used Sicily with Mario for a tour in Sicily and Private Greece Tours in Athens.  In Turkey we opted to do a tour through the cruise.  In Crete we used the city bus to get to the town.  Please let me know if you have any specific questions!

Mrs.BFinally

Thanks so much!!!   We leave in 7 weeks for our cruise and it is not going to get here soon enough.  We have elected not to book anything in Sicily and Crete but have private tours all booked for Athens and Ephasus.  In Crete, once you got into town, what is there to do?  Any suggestions?

rblucy

In Crete, there's a little stand that sells bus tickets right when you get off the boat and they have maps of the town.  We took the bus into town for 3 Euro roundtrip.  Then we walked about 3 blocks to another bus that took us to the beach.  Coming back we took a taxi because we were told it would be faster.  The taxi from the beach into town was 8 Euros.  We walked a couple of blocks down to the harbor and had lunch facing the harbor.  That area was really pretty.  There's a small lighthouse there as well as a fort, a mosque and I believe a small museum.  There were a bunch of shops to walk through as well.  Because we had gone to the beach, we really only had time for lunch in town and a quick walk through since that is the day that you're in port shortest.  You'll love the cruise though!  Just page me if you have any questions as it gets closer

Mrs.BFinally

Thank you!  We are really excited and cannot wait to board the airplane at LAX in 6 weeks,  Time has flown for sure and I can remember when our countdown was in the 200 range and now it is a mere 44 days.

Crete sounds like a great relaxing day.  I had read somewhere to take a cab into town and just wander.  One Saturday DH and I watch youtube videos on Crete and saw the harbor front.  After spending days in Athens and Ephasus, we are going to need a "laid back day" before we get our last sea and our 3 days in Rome after the cruise.

 What did you do in Messina?  this is the only port we have nothing planned for really and I am not sure I want to spend the $$ to go up to Taormina.

rblucy

There really isn't much in Messina because apparently the majority of stores and shops are closed until much later in the day on the day of the week that the boat is docked there.  There is a pretty fountain and a clock tower in Messina.  Taormina was really pretty and had shops and some restaurants.  My family wanted to see Etna so we did a tour that went towards Etna and we went up a ways to see some craters and had some great views of Etna.  Then we stopped in Taormina for about an hour, went up to Castlemola for a bit, then stopped at the clock tower and fountain in Messina.  

The bus into town for Crete was really easy.  There's a little stand selling tickets and handing out maps as soon as you get off the boat and plenty of buses coming through to pick up the tourists.  The harbor was really pretty and it was nice to just relax and enjoy it.